The Currywurst Museum – Berlin

A while back, someone saw fit to ask me to speak on a travel panel at a conference. There, an audience member asked what my biggest tip would be for successful family travel. Of course I could have said “don’t take children”, or “bribery” but actually, I really do believe that the best tip for a trip that everyone enjoys (and remembers) is to give your offspring a guide-book and let them plan a part of it. Not only does it make them feel involved, it also ensures that you all get to see things you wouldn’t have even have dreamed about visiting (which can of course be both a blessing and a curse!) I am sure I have mentioned before that (amongst many other places) this is how we ended up at the fabulous Studio Ghibli Museum in Japan, the gory Kriminal Museum in Rothenburg, and now this, The Currywurst Museum in Berlin…

Living here, both children are fans of the odd wurst as they feature on just about every single children’s menu in the region (along with the obligatory Schnitzel), and Small Boy is particularly partial to a good spicy Currywurst smothered in sauce and with a pile of chips the size of his head (not that he gets to eat it that often thanks to his horrible “six portion of fruits and veg a day” pushing mother!)… But, having been subjected to a closer look at remnants of the Berlin Wall and The Reichstag by his parents, and given in to his sister’s choice of the MauerMuseum (more on that shortly), it was only fair to indulge him on his choice – The Currywurst Museum.

It’s not that huge, there’s only so much you can say about a sausage, but what is said is said in-depth and with humour. There’s also a quiz sheet in English (and German obviously) which definitely adds to the experience for Small People, and resulted in a generous pile of mini Haribo packets at the end of our visit – once forms were correctly filled in.

I think the owners must have had a field day when they designed this place – quite a lot of it is interactive. They have thought of just about everything, from displays of where the Best Currywurst can be found across Berlin (from the humble (served with bier) to the not so humble, (accompanied by champagne!)) and beyond (there’s even a Currywurst van in Thailand). You can also find out about the origins of the original Currywurst recipe, and the herbs and spices mandatory to make them (and what they also look and smell like!). Then there are interactive games to play including one that shows you the best way to chop and serve the celebrated sausage if you’ve ever wondered, whilst timing you to see how fast it takes… And, just in case you are tempted to embark on a life of junk food forever, there’s a game of “comparing the contents of fridges”, from the healthy to the extremely not so, which should put you back on the right path again…

To prove there’s something for everyone here, we were particularly appreciative of the Currywurst shaped seating area (above), where we relaxed under giant blobs of “ketchup” and watched our offspring go bananas in the life-sized takeaway van… Behold two Small People absolutely killing themselves laughing as they “cooked” and “served up” some of Berlin’s finest! Thankfully this wasn’t a working model as Small Boy accidentally put his hand in the “deep fat fryer” and Small Girl accidentally put washing up liquid on the chips. I think they would have happily played here all day if they hadn’t been tempted by the real deal just around the corner…

Putting them to work…

And, as I have hinted above, before you leave you do get to sample a selection of Berlin’s finest, and yes, unlike a lot of food in this part of the world, the spicy option is actually very spicy…

A good interlude for kids if you plan on visiting some of Berlin’s more serious exhibits. Don’t miss the (partially hidden behind a wall) video of a Berlin Currywurst Seller from a number of years ago. It’s well worth watching…

This looks hilarious! I love those fun seats and your children are certainly having lots of fun in the ‘kitchen’. Such a good idea to include them in the planning and letting them pick where to go. My daughter would enjoy this museum although think I’d her the non-spicy currywurst at the end. Thanks for linking to #citytripping

This sounds like a hysterical antidote to the Reichstag, Wall et al, I’m quite sure my boys would love it and I’m definitely bookmarking it for a future visit to Berlin. Happy New Year Emma! #citytripping

That sounds like great fun for kids. Those giant ketchup blobs are hilarious! I must say we’re not big on travelling, but when we took my daughter to Amsterdam I gave her a book. She chose to go to the zoo because she saw it in her book and we had a fantastic afternoon there.

Hilarious! I’ve clearly had to put this on my to-do-list for Berlin! Did you manage to visit Konopke? The fact that they kept selling Currywurst despite all sorts of food- and meat shortages not only proves the versatility of Currywurst, but also highlights the fact that a spicy ketchup can hide anything …

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[…] our travels (how we ended up in the Cat Museum in Japan probably, and definitely how we ended up in Berlin’s Currywurst Museum!), so why shouldn’t we let them help decide on where to go hiking either? I recommend […]

[…] Deliberated over from the comfort of her temporary bedroom in our cosy communist era Berlin apartment (whilst I pondered the all important matter of where we should eat dinner!), a certain history enthusiast in our family decided on two museums to visit in one day, both with much more serious collections for inspection, after the previous day’s frivolity of her brother’s choice of CurryWurst Museum. […]

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